Given that the alleged poacher just celebrated his 66th birthday, if he is found guilty for the barrage of wildlife crimes he is facing, he’ll likely never hunt again.
Well, legally anyways.
But that has allegedly never stopped him before.
The accused, 66-year-old Timothy Lee Crooks (fitting, right?) has been hit with five counts of wanton destruction of a big game animal and four counts of use of a silencer to take a big or trophy game animal.
Each of the charges comes with a penalty of up to 12 months in prison along with a $10,000 fine and a 6-year suspension of hunting privileges. Add it all together and Crooks could be on the hook for up to nine years in prison, $90,000 worth of fines and a 54-year suspension of his hunting privileges.
Court documents reveal a plethora of allegations that date back to August of 2018. It was at that time that wardens from Wyoming’s Game and Fish Department were called to investigate a dead deer that had been found dead and shot with a small caliber firearm. Witnesses on Arkansas Drive in Green River reported hearing multiple shots early in the morning hours and later found a deer suffering from the wounds likely sustained by the gunshots they heard earlier in the day.
Witnesses also told wardens about a bullet hole found in one of the nearby residential garages in the neighborhood. The Green River Police Department stepped in to help with ballistics and determined the shot to have come from one of three homes on the street.
It wasn’t until August 25, 2021 that Crooks was interviewed at his home on Arkansas Drive at which time he stated that he was unaware as to who was shooting the deer.
Throughout 2022 and into 2023, reports continued to surface from the neighborhood as wounded deer were commonly reported in the area. Wardens were able to pull a .223 bullet and a .224 bullet from a couple of deer and even found a blood trail that appeared to lead to Crooks residence.
Officials were finally able to execute a warrant on the accused’s residence to search out any .22 caliber firearms. Upon arrival, officials found multiple boxes of .22 ammunition, two .22 caliber rifles and a .22 caliber pistol. During their search, they also discovered a homemade suppressor designed using a pair of 20 oz. soda bottles and parts of aluminum cans.
Crooks told officers that the suppressor was only used to pick off skunks in his yard, stating that he didn’t want to disturb the neighbors while he did it.
With the bullets pulled from the deer along with the seized firearms, the Wyoming Department of Criminal Investigation lab determined that two of the bullets were in fact fired from the Marlin rifle seized from Crook’s home. Unfortunately, the third bullet had degraded too much to be determined if it was also fired from one of the rifles.
Crook’s continues to maintain his innocence as he attended his circuit court arraignment last week. His bond was set at $5,000 cash or surety, with the added provision that he does not possess deadly weapons or firearms. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released from the Sweetwater County Detention Center.
